HEMET: Teachers union bemoans lack of contract

Hemet teachers, unhappy with the pace of negotiations on next yearâs contract, rallied outside the school district headquarters this week.

Wearing black and donning stickers reading âHTA supports its bargaining team,â members of the Hemet Teachers Association gathered for a picnic before the school board meeting on Tuesday, April 23.

They are disappointed that the talks were not part of Tuesdayâs board agenda, members said.

âWe need to get negotiating,â said Evelynn-Joy Kight-Moore, chairman of the unionâs crisis committee. âThere are all kinds of issues.â

Hemet Unified School District Superintendent Barry Kayrell said talks have not begun because the district just received a proposal from the union.

Before negotiations can start, each side must highlight the parts of the deal they especially want to have considered. Kayrell said the unionâs list came in too late to be put on Tuesdayâs agenda and will come before the board at its next meeting on May 7.

He, too, is disappointed in the timing, he said.

âItâs extremely late to begin negotiations in April and May,â Kayrell said. âWe have a month of school left. The reality of finishing by the end of the school year is very remote.â

The teacherâs most recent contract expired in June 2012 and an agreement that kept those terms in place is good through June 30.

That deal will stay in place until something new comes along, Kayrell said.

But some issues have more immediate deadlines, such as class sizes, he added. If the district agrees to have fewer students in classes, that would mean hiring more teachers. Their salaries would have to be accounted for in the budget, which is due in June.

A number of union members addressed the school board during Tuesdayâs meeting, when about 100 teachers filled the board room, Kight-Moore said.

In addition to class size, the educatorsâ main concerns fall in the areas of salary and health costs, said Kight-Moore, a special education teacher at West Valley High School.

The teachers association says its members have had more furlough days than teachers in neighboring districts in the last four years. At the same time, Hemet Unifiedâs budget reserves have grown, the union claims.

Teachers have had 16 unpaid days since 2009-10, the union said, costing workers more than $6,000 each.

Hemet teachers are paid base salaries that range from $42,271 to $84,995 annually, depending on experience and education.

The association has more than 900 members, including teachers, librarians, nurses, psychologists and counselors.

A separate union represents support workers, such as secretaries, custodians and bus drivers.

Follow Craig Shultz on Twitter @PE_CraigShultz and online at blog.pe.com/hemet

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